A. Oracles against Judah's closest neighbors ch. 25

This chapter ties in very closely with the preceding one. Evidently all the messages in these two chapters date from the beginning of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem (24:1-2). Even though this chapter begins a series of messages that all deal with God's judgment on the nations, the messages in this chapter followed on the heels of the announcement of the siege. It is as though God was warning Israel's closest neighbors not to gloat over her fate nor to hope to profit from it since they too would undergo divine wrath in the form of Babylonian invasion. They would not triumph over Israel. Ezekiel had referred to their judgment earlier (21:20, 28-32) as had Jeremiah (Jer. 9:25-26; 25:1-26; 27:1-11; 48:1-49:22). Their captivity would also last 70 years (Jer. 25:11), but their larger judgment would continue, as Israel's, from the time of their defeat by Nebuchadnezzar until the second coming of Christ (i.e., the times of the Gentiles, Luke 21:24; cf. Isa. 11:14; Dan. 11:41; Joel 3:1-4). The description of these nations proceeds in an essentially clockwise direction from east to west whereas the remaining judgments deal with Tyre, Sidon, and Egypt north to south.

"The amount of space dedicated to each nation does not necessarily correspond to its importance in the ancient Near East of the sixth century B.C. Rather, by concentrating at length on two nations, mentioning at more-average length several others, and touching only briefly on yet others, this section of prophecies gives a realistic over-allimpression of both thoroughness and variety."³⁴⁴

The four messages in this chapter each have four parts: an introduction, an indictment, a punishment, and an outcome. The first oracle against Ammon consists of two messages and consequently contains a double indictment and punishment.

 1. Judgment on Ammon 25:1-7

Ezekiel previously recorded an oracle against Ammon (21:28-32). Its placement there was evidently due to the presence of "sword of the Lord"terminology in that oracle, which the other prophecies in that chapter also contain.

25:1-3a The Lord directed His servant Ezekiel to set his face toward the nation of Ammon and to deliver a message of judgment from Him.

25:3b The Ammonites had rejoiced (cf. 26:2; 36:2) over the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem (cf. 24:21), the desolation of the land of Israel, and the exile of the Judahites (cf. 2 Kings 24:2; Jer. 49:1; Zeph. 2:8-10).

25:4-5 Therefore the sovereign Lord would turn them over to the eastern invaders, the Babylonians, who would take over their country and settle in their land.³⁴⁵The capital city of Rabbah (modern Amman) as well as the rest of the land would become a desolation inhabited mainly by camels and flocks of sheep and goats.

25:6-7 Because the Ammonites had rejoiced over Israel's misfortune the Lord would punish them and give them as the spoils of war to other nations. He would end their existence as a separate nation and destroy them as a people. Ammon no longer existed as a nation after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it and Bedouins from the east plundered it.³⁴⁶This judgment would teach them that Yahweh is God.

"Oracles against foreign nations are always implicitly oracles of encouragement for God's people."³⁴⁷

Jeremiah predicted that Yahweh would restore the fortunes of the Ammonites (Jer. 49:6). This occurred briefly after the Exile. Tobiah was a Persian governor of Ammon during the postexilic period (cf. Neh. 2:10, 19; 4:7). But restoration of this region will also take place in the Millennium (cf. Jer. 46:26-28; 48:47).

 2. Judgment on Moab 25:8-11

25:8 The residents of Moab and Seir (Edom) had regarded Judah as just one of the other nations even though the Judahites were blood relatives of theirs (cf. Jer. 48:27; Zeph. 2:8-9). This attitude reflected disrespect for Yahweh. They viewed Israel's God as no better than other pagan deities since Judah had fallen to the Babylonians.

25:9-10 Consequently the Lord promised to destroy the frontier cities in which the Moabites took much pride. Beth-jeshimoth lay in the Jordan Valley and guarded the ascent to the Medeba Plateau. Baal-meon was farther to the east and south in northern Moab, and Kiriathaim was another northern town on the Medeba Plateau. Its name means "the glory of the land,"a play on words with the same phrase that appears earlier in verse 9. Yahweh would give the whole country over to the control of the eastern invaders along with Ammon, which would cease to exist as a nation (cf. v. 7; Jer. 48:7-9).

25:11 Yahweh would judge Moab, and the Moabites would come to realize that He is God. This nation also passed out of existence during the Exile.³⁴⁸Yet Yahweh promised to restore the fortunes of Moab in the distant future (Jer. 48:47; cf. Jer. 46:26; 49:6, 39). This happened in a limited way after the Exile, but it will happen in the eschaton when modern residents of Moab's territory will stream to Jerusalem to worship Messiah in the Millennium.

 3. Judgment on Edom 25:12-14

25:12 The Edomites had taken vengeance on the Judahites rather than helping them (cf. 36:1-7; Gen. 25:30; 27:41-46; 32:4; Lam. 4:21-22; Amos 1:11-12).

25:13 For this reason the Lord promised to send judgment on them. He would cause both man and beast to perish from their land (cf. 35:1-36:15). He would make the land a desolate waste from Teman to Dedan, throughout the country, as a result of an army invasion (cf. Joel 3:19; Obad.). Teman was a town in central Edom not far from Sela (Petra), and Dedan was a region southeast of Edom where Edomites evidently lived. Jeremiah revealed that this punishment would come through Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 9:26; 25:21; 27:1-11). Edomites occupied southern Judah after the Exile.³⁴⁹

25:14 The Israelites would play a part in Edom's judgment acting as the Lord's agents of His anger (cf. 35:1-36:15; Isa. 11:14; Dan. 11:41; Amos 9:12; Obad. 18). The Edomites too would come to acknowledge Yahweh as the true God.

Today the residents of the territory formerly occupied by Ammon, Moab, and Edom all go by the name "Arab."

 4. Judgment on Philistia 25:15-17

25:15-16 The Philistines to Judah's west had also scorned the Israelites and had sought to destroy them (cf. Judg. 13-16; 1 Sam. 4; 13; 31; 2 Sam. 5; 2 Kings 18:8; 2 Chron. 21:16-17; 28:18). Therefore the Lord would stretch out His strong hand in judgment against them and cut off the Cherethites, a group of Philistines who originated in Crete (ancient Caphtor; cf. 1 Sam. 30:14; Zeph. 2:5), and the rest of the Philistines who lived by the Mediterranean seacoast.³⁵⁰

25:17 He would take vengeance on them for their treatment of His chosen people by these rebukes executed in His wrath (cf. Isa. 11:14; Jer. 25:20; 47:1-7; Joel 3:1-4; Obad. 19; Zeph. 2:4-7). There is no record of the Philistines after the second century B.C., though the name of their cities remained. They would know that Yahweh was God when they experienced His judgment.

These judgments should be a warning to any nation that spitefully treats the Chosen People of God (i.e., Israel, the physical descendants of Jacob) and that sins against the sovereign God in other ways. He will punish sin and those who abuse His people.